An explosion of periodicals and other printed materials erupted out of the 1848 revolution in France. With the declaration of the provisional government on February 24, the previous restrictions on the press were lifted and a great number of printed materials emerged to educate the new public created by the declaration of universal suffrage. The major papers such as Le Nation and La Réforme were surrounded on all sides by newspapers, pamphlets, and other periodicals presenting opinions and hourly news on the developments of the provisional government. Some of these publications had only one edition, but there were many others emerging to take the old journals' places. From royalist to socialist, every political opinion was represented and challenged in these papers. The spontaneity, variety, and abundance of these papers makes them an outstanding source for uncovering the cultural, political, social, and other aspects of the French revolution of 1848.

CRL, the University of Chicago Library, and the ARTFL project have created this database in an effort to further the knowledge of 1848 around the world. The materials provided on this database have been collected by CRL and are available on microfilm. However, CRL's collaboration with ARTFL has made these materials more accessible. Similarly, being on the ARTFL database, the collection of periodicals from 1848 is surrounded by resources which are invaluable to inquiries into in the revolutionary history of France and French studies in general.